Jeff Stroburg and Daniel Oh share a passion for the success of their company, Renewable Energy Group Inc., but they arrived at that destination from different directions.

Stroburg, the company’s chairman, grew up on a farm in Iowa and didn’t plan to become an entrepreneur. Oh, the president and CEO, grew up working in his family business, which groomed him for an entrepreneurial course from day one.

Stroburg and Oh have created a work environment in which people are exposed to many different work situations and experiences early in their careers.

This was done partly by design, but it was also necessitated by REG’s fast growth. The company has developed a workplace design that emulates its continuous-ﬂow biodiesel plants.

It moved department locations to help it reach its highest efﬁciency level by placing people in different departments close to each other to foster a cohesive working relationship.

Renewable Energy Group’s leaders believe a single bad hire can be detrimental to the company’s prospects for success, so they have instituted a rigorous employee on-boarding process.

Since the company’s inception six years ago, REG has supported four employees as they have worked their way through Iowa State University’s MBA program.

REG also sponsors a leadership camp that helps develop many of the company’s team leaders.

As Renewable Energy Group’s leaders looks to the future, they are contemplating entering the feedstock market.

The company currently purchases the material it uses to produce biodiesel fuels, but as it expands the types of material it can use at its plants, it is beginning to see potential beneﬁts in the prospect of producing its own feedstock.